Hunter-Reay takes victory in bizarre ABC Supply 500

Ryan Hunter-Reay has taken his second victory of the season at Pocono in the ABC Supply 500, after a thoroughly bizarre 200-lap race. The 2012 champion finished ahead of Josef Newgarden and championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya in a race which ended under caution.

However, there was a sombre mood in parc ferme after Justin Wilson was involved in a serious incident on lap 179, when the Briton was struck on the head by debris following a high-speed spin by Sage Karam.

Wilson was extracted from the car and transported via helicopter to Lehigh Valley Health Network Cedar Crest Hospital with a confirmed head injury.

With favourable weather conditions the penultimate race of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series got underway around the iconic Pocono Raceway for the ABC Supply 500. Helio Castroneves started the race from pole, and was exceptionally eager to get proceedings underway.

After two aborted starts courtesy of an overzealous Castroneves, the race began with the usual freneticism up and down the order.

Newgarden in particular stormed into a commanding lead into turn one, sweeping around the outside of both Castroneves and Pagenaud, with the latter slotting into second position.

Throughout the order various battles ensued, with drivers jostling for position up and down the order. Rookie Gabby Chaves made the most of his start to the race, rising up from 16th to 12th in the opening few laps.

Further down the order British driver Pippa Mann was struck with a mechanical issue on her Dale Coyne Racing machine, forcing her to pit. Meanwhile championship leader Juan Pablo Montoya was struggling to rise through the field, making his way up to only 15th after starting from 19th after 19 laps.

Rookie Stefano Coletti became the first retirement, after a mechanical issue seemingly materialised on his KV Racing Technology machine and forced him to pit. Shortly afterwards the first scheduled pit-stop took place, with race leader Newgarden diving into the pits.

This enabled Pagenaud to assume the lead of the race, as Jack Hawksworth also pitted for AJ Foyt Racing. A lap later further drivers elected to pit under green flag conditions, including the Target Chip Ganassi Racing of Scott Dixon.

The third caution of the race occurred only moments after Dixon and others pitted, as Hawksworth lost his left-rear wheel after it was not securely attached during his stop only a lap earlier. Luckily the wheel in question came to rest without striking a car, as the field bunched up behind the safety car.

Under safety car conditions the remaining drivers elected to pit, including race leader Pagenaud and championship leader Montoya. This enabled Newgarden to resume his lead of the race, ahead of Carlos Munoz and Justin Wilson.

On lap 37 the race was resumed, however only for one corner before Sebastien Bourdais slammed into the wall at turn one. The Frenchman had been complaining of a sticking throttle only moments earlier, and suffered a hefty collision with the wall.

After a slightly longer delay, the race was restarted as Wilson pounced on Newgarden to secure the lead of the race. However, the Briton led for only one corner before Newgarden resumed the lead with a quick overtake.

Further back championship leader Montoya enjoyed a champion’s restart, running five wide into turn one as he rose steadily up into eighth position.

As Ryan Briscoe began to lose ground in the Schmidt Peterson Motorsport car, Tony Kanaan came to life and made quick overtakes on Munoz, Wilson and Newgarden to storm into the lead for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Ten laps later the second round of scheduled pit-stops ensued, with race leader Kanaan becoming the first driver to pit. The Brazilian was joined in the pits by Newgarden, who perfected his stop to rejoin ahead of Kanaan.

Meanwhile Ryan Hunter-Reay assumed the lead of the race, before pitting with a whole host of other drivers a lap later. As Pagenaud returned into the lead of the race, Graham Rahal suffered a disastrous stop, as his mechanics failed to attach the fuel hose to the car.

Eventually Rahal rejoined the action, albeit way down the order. Pagenaud and Montoya pitted several laps later, which saw Castroneves rise up into the lead of the race. However, as the final few drivers completed their second pit-stops, Pagenaud soon resumed his lead at the front.

However, Pagenaud’s lead lasted only several laps, before Castroneves scythed his way from third to lead the race for Team Penske. Pagenaud continued to lose ground as the race continued, dropping to fourth as Kanaan and Hunter-Reay muscled their way through.

The fourth caution of the afternoon was caused on lap 85 when Charlie Kimball and Hawksworth collided, with both drivers clearly angry with each other for the contact. Whilst Kimball managed to limp back to the pits with only damage to his front-wing, Hawksworth was left stricken in the middle of the track.

In traditional oval style the entire field pitted under caution conditions, with reigning champion Will Power in particular suffering a highly embarrassing stop. The Australian driver spun whilst exiting his pit-box, before rejoining the action further down the order.

Meanwhile Castroneves managed to maintain his lead at the front, however that lead evaporated shortly after the restart as Kanaan stormed head of his fellow countryman to lead the race.

Only moments after the race was restarted and Kanaan took the lead, yet another caution was caused after Rahal and Tristan Vautier collided in spectacular fashion on the final corner. Rahal was understandably livid with the incident, immediately removing himself from his car and marching over to Vautier to verbally vent his frustration.

Replays showed that Vautier simply stuck his car three wide alongside Rahal and Wilson at the last moment, resulting in the contact which miraculously managed to avoid collecting Wilson who was on the high line.

On the restart Kanaan instantly lost the lead to Pagenaud, with rookie Sage Karam a close second for Chip Ganassi Racing. On the next lap local hero Karam stormed into the lead, clearly eager to rise to the top on home territory.

However, Karam’s reign was soon over as the 20-year-old pitted under green flag conditions. This enabled Pagenaud to momentarily resume the lead, before Castroneves stormed through to steal the lead away from the Frenchman.

A sixth caution was caused on lap 109, as James Jakes made light contact with Ed Carpenter, which resulted in Carpenter’s left-rear tyre guard flying off drastically and coming to rest on the racing line.

This enabled the most field to pit once again under caution conditions, with Pagenaud rejoining the action ahead of Castroneves. Meanwhile Carpenter returned to the pits to retire, after initial repairs were unsuccessful.

On the restart rookie Chaves led the field away, before being pounced upon by Castroneves into turn one. The duo traded the lead for the next few high speed laps, with the entire field unquestionably resuming the race with sheer aggressiveness.

Further down the order a frenetic battle between Kanaan, Takuma Sato and Montoya ensued, with the trio running three wide in their bid to outsmart each other. Meanwhile race leader Chaves pitted, handing the lead down to Hunter-Reay.

The seventh caution of the afternoon occurred on lap 132, as Kanaan went spiralling out of his 248th consecutive IndyCar start. The Brazilian dipped a wheel beneath the yellow line, which sent him spinning into the inside wall and subsequent retirement.

During the caution period the majority of the field pitted, including Pagenaud and Power. The latter suffered yet another embarrassing stop, as the Australian exited his pit box and this time failed to gain any speed.

On the restart Chaves lead the field away, before being robbed of the lead by Pagenaud almost instantly.

No sooner had the field completed one lap before yet another caution arose, this time courtesy of Marco Andretti who lost control of his car and slammed heavily into the wall. The 28-year-old gingerly removed himself from his car, before then limping away with the assistance of a marshal. Andretti later confirmed that he took a knock to the outside of his right knee, hence the slow removal from his car.

The race was resumed on lap 149, with Pagenaud leading the field into turn one. The Frenchman remained out in front for several laps, before Hunter-Reay breezed through into the lead for Andretti Autosport.

The ninth caution of the race was caused in extremely comical circumstances, as a fox decided to scamper across the track right in front of Mann’s car. During the relatively short delay the majority of the field pitted under caution conditions, resulting in Briscoe assuming the lead.

On the restart absolute mayhem ensued, with several drivers slow to realise the race was restarting. This resulted in the field entering turn one over seven wide, before Castroneves ran wide and slammed into the wall at turn one.

Once again the safety car was called upon, as the marshals cleared away Castroneves’s stricken Team Penske machine. Under caution many drivers dived into the pits, including Power and Montoya.

The race was resumed shortly afterwards, with Hunter-Reay leading the field at the front. However, the lead changed hands numerous times during the following laps, with Newgarden, Sato and then Karam rising to the front of the pack.

This created an all-time new record for lead changes at Pocono of 29, with 24 laps still remaining. All of sudden the eleventh caution was caused as race leader Karam lost control of his car and speared violently into the wall.

As the field strove to avoid colliding with the stricken rookie, a piece of debris seemed to strike the cockpit area of Wilson, who then ran straight into the inside wall. This resulted in medical attention being required to both drivers, with Karam clearly shaken after the extent of his incident.

Whilst Karam removed himself from his car and walked to the ambulance under his own steam, Wilson was extracted from his car and then air-lifted from Pocono to the Lehigh Valley Health Network Cedar Crest Hospital, as the marshals cleared the stricken cars as the laps ticked away.

After a lengthy delay, the race was resumed with Sato immediately pouncing on Chaves for the lead. Chaves almost instantly regained the lead, with utterly frenetic racing up and down the order.

Two laps later Hunter-Reay stormed into the lead, as Chaves began to struggle with Newgarden second and Montoya third.

The twelfth and final caution of the race occurred on lap 196, as Chaves suffered a mechanical issue and slowed drastically. The Colombian managed to limp back to the pits, whilst race control confirmed the race would end under safety car conditions.

This enabled Hunter-Reay to cruise across the line to secure his 14th career victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series, ending the race ahead of Newgarden and Montoya. Power ended fourth, Munoz fifth and Sato sixth. Despite leading several laps Pagenaud ended the race seventh, ahead of Briscoe and Dixon with Jakes rounding out the top ten.

The Verizon IndyCar Series now heads to the Sonoma Raceway for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, the final round of the season and one which will offer double points. Montoya has extended his lead in the drivers’ championship to 34 points ahead of Rahal, with Dixon 47 points behind and Power 61 points behind.

Image courtesy of Bret Kelley/IndyCar Series Media Service

Rubens Barrichello To Test For IndyCar

It has been reported by The Associated Press that an anonymous source has told them that Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello is allegedly lined up to test for IndyCar’s KV Racing Technology. This comes a week after Barrichello was officially replaced at Williams by fellow countryman Bruno Senna. 

KV Racing Technology, who receive technical support from Lotus, are set to have a two day test session at the Sebring International Raceway, with the team testing the new Dallara chassis that is set to be introduced to the IndyCar Series in 2012. 

The source from The Associated Press also stated that Rubens Barrichello has not made any future plans beyond the test session with KV Racing Technology. With close friend and fellow countryman Tony Kanaan already racing for the team, there is an obvious lure for Barrichello to join the IndyCar Series which already hosts three South American drivers in Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Venezuelan driver E.J. Viso. 

Rubens Barrichello, who spent the majority of his 19 seasons in Formula 1 as second man to team-mate Michael Schumacher, will be hoping that if he does join the IndyCar Series in 2012, he will have the ability to be competitive.

The 2012 IndyCar Series kicks off on March 25th when the Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg gets underway in Florida.